J. Geils found dead in Massachusetts home at age 71Published April 11, 2017 FoxNews.com

J. Geils performnig.J. Geils performnig. (Carl Lender via Wiki Commons)John Warren Geils Jr., the founder and lead guitarist for the J. Geils Band, was found dead Tuesday in his Massachusetts home. He was 71.

Groton Police said in a statement that they were called to Geils' home at around 4 p.m. local time to do a wellness check. Officers found Geils unresponsive and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police said a preliminary investigation indicated that Geils died of natural causes, but the investigation was ongoing.

The J. Geils Band was founded in 1967 in Worcester, Mass., while Geils was studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Bandmates included Danny Klein, Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd, Peter Wolf and Seth Justman.The band, whose music bridged the gap between disco and new wave, released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985. They reunited off and on over the years.

The group had several Top 40 singles in the early 1970s, including a cover song "Lookin' for a Love" by the family group The Valentinos and "Give It to me."Their biggest hits included "Must of Got Lost," which reached No. 12 on Billboard's Top 100 in 1975 and "Love Stinks," a rant against unrequited love, the title song on their 1980 album. Their song "Centerfold," from the album "Freeze Frame" was released in 1981 and eventually charted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982. It stayed there for six weeks and was featured on MTV.The band was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the fourth time last fall but was not selected."This is our fourth nomination, and going through that process, with its inherent disappointment, you're not sure you want to take that ride again," lead vocalist Peter Wolf told Billboard at the time. "It's great to be recognized, but it's a drag to be disappointed. I hope that we make it in. That would be great."The Associated Press contributed to this report.

No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. NoPARA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCKAPRIL 22, 2017 | 06:21PM PTErin Moran, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on “Happy days,” has died. She was 56.

According to TMZ, Moran’s body was found unresponsive Saturday afternoon by authorities in Indiana. The cause of death is unknown.

The California-born actress, who also starred in “Happy Days” spinoff “Joanie Loves Chachi” opposite Scott Baio, had fallen on hard times in recent years. She was reportedly kicked out of her trailer park home in Indiana, according to tabloid reports, because of her hard-partying ways.

Moran was just 14 when she signed on to play Ron Howard’s sister in the TV classic “Happy Days,” which aired from 1974 to 1983. Her TV credits also include “The Love Boat,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

She most recently appeared on VH1 reality show “Celebrity Fit Club” and low-budget film “Not Another B Movie” in 2010.

In 2012, Moran and three of her “Happy Days” co-stars – Williams, Marion Ross, Don Most and the widow of Tom Bosley – sued CBS for $10 million, claiming they never received merchandise royalties they were owed under their contracts. The case was later settled out of court. Neither Henry Winkly, who famously starred as the Fonz on the show, nor Ron Howard were part of the lawsuit.

Sir Roger Moore, James Bond actor, dies aged 894 hours agond, has died aged 89, his family has announced.

He played the famous spy in seven Bond films including Live and Let Die and A View to a Kill.Sir Roger's family confirmed the news on Twitter, saying he had died after "a short but brave battle with cancer".The statement, from his children, read: "Thank you Pops for being you, and being so very special to so many people.""With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated," they said in a Twitter post.

Obituary: Sir Roger MooreRoger Moore's classic quotesA life in picturesSir Roger Moore: One Lucky Fellow'My dad hired Roger Moore to play Bond''Roger Moore: Daniel Craig is best Bond'Sir Roger on Desert Island DiscsThe actor took the character of James Bond in a more humorous direction than his predecessor Sean Connery.

Sir Roger is survived by his three children and wife Kristina TholstrupSir Roger's Bond was calm and suave - a smooth operator who could seemingly get himself out of a tricky situation with ease.The veteran star, who died in Switzerland, will have a private funeral in Monaco in accordance with his wishes, his children said."The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone," read the statement from Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian."Our thoughts must now turn to supporting Kristina [Tholstrup, his wife] at this difficult time."The statement added: "We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered to be his greatest achievement.

Media captionWatch some of Sir Roger Moore's most famous moments as 007Along with his famous Bond role, Moore was also known for TV series The Persuaders and The Saint.Sir Roger was also well known for his humanitarian work - he was introduced to Unicef by the late Audrey Hepburn and was appointed as a goodwill ambassador in 1991.Stars pay tributeRussell Crowe led the tributes to the actor on Twitter, writing simply: "Roger Moore, loved him."Michael Ball said: "My dearest uncle Roger has passed on. What a sad, sad day this is. Loved the bones of him. Generous, funny, beautiful and kind."Mia Farrow wrote: "Few are as kind & giving as was Roger Moore. Loving thoughts with his family & friends," while Boy George added: "RIP Sir Roger Moore. He was the king of cool."Duran Duran, who sang the Bond theme song for A View To A Kill, simply tweeted: RIP Roger.In a statement, fellow Unicef ambassador and actor Ewan McGregor said: "Thank you, Roger, for having championed so tirelessly the rights of all children for the last 26 years."You've shown that we all have the power to make a change to the lives of the most vulnerable children."Sir Roger's Bond credits include Moonraker, Octopussy and Live and Let DieMoore's Bond moviesLive and Let Die (1973)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40018422

"Preserving and protecting the principles of the Constitution is the primary role of the federal government."

Gregg Allman, Southern Rock Pioneer, Dead at 69Allman Brothers Band leader "passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia"

Gregg Allman, a singer, musician and songwriter who played an essential role in the invention of Southern rock, has died at the age of 69. PhotofestBy Richard Gehr

Gregg Allman: 20 Essential SongsSouthern rock pioneer fused country blues with San Francisco-style extended improvisation, creating a template for countless jam bandsAllman "passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia," a statement on the singer's website read Saturday. "Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times."

Allman's longtime manager and close friend Michael Lehman added, "I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him."A cause of death was not immediately revealed, but Allman suffered from chronic liver issues in recent years.Although Allman claimed the term was redundant, the singer-keyboardist helped create the first great "Southern-rock" group as co-founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band alongside his older brother, famed guitarist Duane Allman. The Allmans fused country blues with San Francisco-style extended improvisation, with their sound creating a template for countless subsequent jam bands. Gregg Allman was blessed with one of blues-rock's great growling voices and, along with his Hammond B-3 organ playing (beholden to Booker T. Jones), had a deep emotional power. Writing in Rolling Stone, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons said that Allman's singing and keyboard playing displayed "a dark richness, a soulfulness that added one more color to the Allmans' rainbow."

As he recounted in his 2012 memoir My Cross to Bear, Allman also experienced a quintessential, and essentially tragic, rock-star trajectory that included too-sudden fame, admittedly excessive drug use, a high-profile celebrity romance, multiple marriages and a late-life liver transplant.

Gregory LeNoir Allman was born December 8th, 1947, in Nashville, Tennessee, a little more than a year after brother Duane. The boys' father, U.S. Army Captain Willis Turner Allman, was shot to death by a drinking acquaintance shortly after the family moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 1949. As a child, Gregg saved up money from a paper route and bought a guitar that was soon appropriated by his older brother. The siblings attended Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, before moving to Daytona Beach, Florida. Duane talked his brother into joining a racially integrated band, the House Rockers, shocking their mother. "We had to turn my mother on to the blacks," Gregg told 16-year-old Cameron Crowe in the 1973 Rolling Stone cover story that would inspire Crowe's 2000 film Almost Famous. He added that it "[t]ook a while, but now she’s totally liberated." Following Allman's death, Crowe tweeted, "Thank you Gregg Allman ... for the inspiration, and for those many holy nights on stage."

After playing in bands like the Untils, the Shufflers, the Escorts and the Y-Teens, the brothers took their band Allman Joys on the road in the summer of 1965 following Gregg's graduation from Seabreeze High School. They often played six sets a night, seven nights a week, and eventually moved to Los Angeles – Gregg having shot himself in the foot to avoid the draft – where they recorded two forgettable albums for Liberty Records as the Hour Glass. While working as a session man in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Gregg was summoned to Jacksonville, Florida, in March 1969. There he joined Duane and the other musicians – Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), Butch Trucks (drums) and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums) – comprising the Allman Brothers Band's earliest incarnation.

Gregg Allman Dead Allman Brothers Rock LegendAllman Brothers circa 1970. GAB Photo/Getty"It was nice, round, kind of dull-ended instead of sharp," Allman wrote of the Hammond B-3 sound, "and I thought it blended with guitar just perfect." In addition to being the band's main vocalist and composer of signature tunes "Whipping Post" and "Don't Keep Me Wonderin,'" Gregg and his long blond hair also served as its visual focus. The band enjoyed meteoric success with their albums Live at the Fillmore East (1971) and Eat a Peach (1972). Between those albums, tragically, Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, followed a year later by Oakley's eerily similar demise.

Shortly thereafter, Gregg recorded his solo debut, 1973's Laid Back, which offered an economical à la carte selection of blues, R&B and soul songs in contrast with the Allmans' epic all-you-can-eat live shows. Its critical success, combined with Gregg's marriage to pop superstar Cher in 1975 and the group's collective appetites for narcotics, led to the Allman Brothers' breakup after the recording of their disappointing 1975 release Win, Lose or Draw. Additionally, Allman's bandmates shunned him for testifying to a grand jury, in exchange for immunity, regarding his "valet" and drug provider John C. "Scooter" Herring. Audience shouts of "Narc!" plagued him for years afterward.

Allman continued to release solo albums throughout the Seventies and Eighties. These included the live Gregg Allman Tour (1974) and Playin' Up a Storm (1977). Two the Hard Way (1977), a duo album with Cher credited to "Allman and Woman" resembled an Ashford & Simpson-style effort. An admitted hardcore alcoholic throughout the Eighties and most of the Nineties, Allman enjoyed something of a comeback with I'm No Angel (1986) and, three years later, a reformed Allman Brothers Band. His only non-anthology solo release the following decade was Searching For Simplicity (1997). Allman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Allman Brothers Band in 1995 and would receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Grammys.

In 2007, Allman was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, which he attributed to a dirty tattoo needle, and he received a liver transplant. He also suffered from an atrial fibrillation and eventually switched to a gluten-free vegan diet.

T-Bone Burnett produced Low Country Blues (2011), a solid set of blues covers. Allman continued touring with the Allman Brothers until the group played its official final show at New York's Beacon Theater on October 28th, 2014. All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs and Voice of Gregg Allman, a live album featuring performances by Allman alongside contemporaries Dr. John, Eric Church, Jackson Browne, John Hiatt, Warren Haynes and Widespread Panic, among others, was released in 2015. He released Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon GA in 2015. A rep for Allman has confirmed that a new album, the Don Was–produced Southern Blood, will be released in September.

Allman Brothers Band's Fillmore East Run: An Oral HistoryBomb scares, telepathic jams and one unforgettable all-night gigIn 2016, Allman was forced to cancel his summer tour due to unspecified "serious health problems." After briefly returning to the stage – Allman's last concert was at his 2016 Laid Back Festival in Atlanta – and scheduling a winter tour, Allman again canceled the dates, citing a vocal injury.

"This is the hardest thing I've had to do in a long, long, time," Allman said in a statement after calling off his winter tour. "I've been on the road for 45 years because I live to play music with my friends for my fans. As much as I hate it, it's time for me to take some real time off to heal."After rescheduling the dates, in March 2017, Allman's rep announced, "It has been determined that Gregg will not be touring in 2017," although no reason was provided for the canceled concerts. The next month, Allman denied rumors that he was in hospice care.

Allman is survived by his wife, Shannon Allman, his children, Devon, Elijah Blue, Delilah Island Kurtom and Layla Brooklyn Allman and three grandchildren."When it's all said and done, I'll go to my grave and my brother will greet me saying, 'Nice work, little brother – you did all right,'" Allman wrote in the last lines of My Cross to Bear. "I must have said this a million times, but if I died today, I've had me a blast. I wouldn't trade [my life] for nobody's, but I don't know if I'd do it again. If somebody offered me a second round, I think I'd have to pass on it."

Glenne Headly, star of 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' has died at 62. Headly started out as an original member of Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre company. USA TODAYr Independent Pictures)

Actress Glenne Headly, who enjoyed a four-decade-long career in film, TV and the stage, died Thursday at 62 .

"It is with deep sorrow that we confirm the passing of Glenne Headly," her representative, Annie Schmidt, confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY. "We ask that her family's privacy be respected in this difficult time."

She made her film debut in 1981 with Four Friends and went on to star as an heiress targeted by competing con men (Steve Martin and Michael Caine) in the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.She also worked with Warren Beatty in 1990's Dick Tracy and Richard Dreyfus in 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus. More recently, she played mother to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 2013's Don Jon.

Glenne Headly, seen in this 2009 file photo, an earlyGlenne Headly, seen in this 2009 file photo, an early member of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company who went on to star in films and on TV, died Thursday night, according to her agent. (Photo: Evan Agostini, AP)She earned a pair of Emmy nominations as a supporting actress for her work in the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove(1989) and Bastard out of Carolina (1996). Her other TV credits include the baby-voiced but tough pediatric surgeon Dr. Abby Keaton on NBC's long-running medical soap ER, and the wife of Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) on USA's Monk.

She also starred in two Broadway plays, 1985's Arms and the Man and 2015's Fish in the Dark.

More recently, Headly worked on the HBO TV dramaThe Night Of. At the time of her death, she'd been shooting Future Man, an upcoming Hulu series about a janitor (The Hunger Games' Josh Hutcherson) tasked with protecting humans from extinction, from producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Hulu did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment about how far along Future Man was in its production cycle.

Her friends and former co-stars in Hollywood were crushed by the news:

Edward James Olmos: "I am torn apart by the news that dearest Glenne Headly has passed. Pained to tears! Much to early! Rest In Peace my dearest!"

Marg Helgenberger: "Glenne Headly was always GREAT. I had the honor of working with her, & am deeply saddened that she's gone. My thoughts are with her family"

Michael McKean: "Terrible news about Glenne Headly. A fine actress and a good person. RIP."

Hutcherson posted a tribute to Instagram Friday, writing, "Her eyes brought to life so many amazing characters over the years and her love brought to life a beautiful family. I'm gonna miss her presence, her smile, and the way she made me feel like her son before, between, and after they called action and cut."

PhotofestAdam WestThe actor struggled to find work after the campy superhero series was canceled, but he rebounded with voiceover gigs, including one as the mayor of Quahog on 'Family Guy.'Adam West, the ardent actor who managed to keep his tongue in cheek while wearing the iconic cowl of the Caped Crusader on the classic 1960s series Batman, has died. He was 88.

West, who was at the pinnacle of pop culture after Batman debuted in January 1966, only to see his career fall victim to typecasting after the ABC show flamed out, died Friday night in Los Angeles after a short battle with leukemia, a family spokesperson said.

West died peacefully surrounded by his family and is survived by his wife Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans' lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement.

After struggling for years without a steady job, the good-natured actor reached a new level of fame when he accepted an offer to voice the mayor of Quahog — named Adam West; how’s that for a coincidence! — on Seth MacFarlane’s long-running Fox animated hit Family Guy.

On the big screen, West played a wealthy Main Line husband who meets an early end in Paul Newman’s The Young Philadelphians (1959), was one of the first two humans on the Red Planet in Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and contributed his velvety voice to the animated Redux Riding Hood (1997), which received an Oscar nomination for best short film.

Raised on a ranch outside Walla Walla, Wash., West caught the attention of Batman producer William Dozier when he played Captain Quik, a James Bond-type character with a sailor’s cap, in commercials for Nestle’s Quik.

West, who had appeared in many Warner Bros. television series as a studio contract player, was filming the spaghetti Western The Relentless Four (1965) in Europe at the time. He returned to the States to meet with Dozier, “read the pilot script and knew after 20 pages that it was the kind of comedy I wanted to do,” he said in a 2006 interview with the Archive of American Television.

He signed a contract on the spot, only asking that he be given the chance to approve who would play his sidekick, Robin, the Boy Wonder. (He would OK the casting of Burt Ward, who had a brown belt in karate but zero acting experience).

Adam West (left) and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin.PhotofestAdam West (left) and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin.“The tone of our first show, by Lorenzo Semple Jr., was one of absurdity and tongue in cheek to the point that I found it irresistible,” West said. “I think they recognized that in me from what they’d seen me do before. I understood the material and brought something to it.

“You can’t play Batman in a serious, square-jawed, straight-ahead way without giving the audience the sense that there’s something behind that mask waiting to get out, that he’s a little crazed, he’s strange.”

The hunky Lyle Waggoner (later of The Carol Burnett Show) and Peter Deyell also tested to play the Gotham City crime fighters, but West and Ward clearly were superior, and Batman debuted at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 1966, a Wednesday.

The cliffhanger episode would be resolved the very next night — Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel! The show was originally intended to last an hour, but ABC split it up when it had two time slots available on its primetime schedule.

West said that he played Batman “for laughs, but in order to do [that], one had to never think it was funny. You just had to pull on that cowl and believe that no one would recognize you.”

The series, filmed in eye-popping bright colors in an era of black-and-white and featuring a revolving set of villains like the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Joker (Cesar Romero), Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Catwoman (Julie Newmar), was an immediate hit; the Thursday installment was No. 5 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1965-66 season, and the Wednesday edition was No. 10.

"Stellar, exemplar, a king to the end," Newmar said in a statement: "He was bright, witty and fun to work with. I will miss him in the physical world and savor him always in the world of imagination and creativity. He meant so much to people."

SEE MOREHollywood's Notable Deaths of 2017Batman was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series in its first year, losing out to CBS’ The Dick Van Dyke Show. A 20th Century Fox movie was rushed into production and played in theaters in the summer before season two kicked off in September 1966.

However, the popularity of the show soon plummeted, and Batman — despite the addition of Yvonne Craig as Batgirl — was canceled in March 1968 after its third season.

West quickly struggled to find work, forced to make appearances in his cape and cowl at car shows and carnivals and in such obscure films as The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), written by Semple, and The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980). He and his family downsized, leaving their home in the tony Pacific Palisades for Ketchum, Idaho.

“The people who were hiring, the people who were running the studios, running the shows, were dinosaurs,” the actor said in the 2013 documentary Starring Adam West. “They thought Batman was a big accident, that there was no real creative thought, expertise or art behind it. They were wrong.”

He returned to voice his iconic character in such cartoons as The New Adventures of Batman, Legends of the Superheroes, SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Simpsons, and Warner Bros.’ long-awaited DVD release of ABC’s Batman in 2014 brought him back into the Bat Signal’s spotlight.

He was born William West Anderson in Seattle on Sept. 19, 1928, the second of two sons. His father, Otto, was a wheat farmer; his mother, Audrey, was a pianist and opera singer.

West attended an all-boys high school, then graduated with a major in English literature from Whitman College. During his senior year, he worked for a local radio station, doing everything from Sunday morning religion shows to the news.

He also starred in a couple of plays at the local theater. “I found that I could move an audience and I was appreciated,” he said.In the Army, West served as an announcer on American Forces Network television, then worked as the station manager at Stanford while he was a graduate student.

He got a job at a McClatchy station in Sacramento, Calif., then moved to Hawaii, where he hosted a two-hour weekday show in the late 1950s with a diaper-wearing chimp named Peaches. (West said he once interviewed William Holden as the actor was passing through.)

West got a contract at Warner Bros. at $150 a week and was placed in one of the studio’s TV series — Colt .45, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Cheyenne, etc. — pretty much every week.

He got his first regular TV role when he played Det. Sgt. Steve Nelson under the command of Robert Taylor on the 1959-62 ABC/NBC series The Detectives, coming aboard when that show expanded to one hour in color.

After he split with Warner Bros., West showed up in such forgettable films as Geronimo (1962) starring Chuck Connors, Tammy and the Doctor (1963) with Sandra Dee and in The Three Stooges film The Outlaws Is Coming (1965) before Batman changed his life forever.

He later starred in a rejected 1991 NBC pilot episode called Lookwell — written by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel — in which he portrayed a once-famous TV detective who thinks he can solve crimes in real life.

Then came the gig on MacFarlane’s Family Guy.

“I had done a pilot with Seth that he had written for me. It turned out we had the same kind of comic sensibilities and got along well,” he said in a 2012 interview. “When Family Guy came around and Seth became brilliantly successful, he decided to call me and see what I was doing. He asked if I would like to come aboard as the mayor, and I thought it would be neat to do something sort of absurd and fun.”

The documentary Starring Adam West culminates with him receiving a star on The Hollywood Hall of Fame in 2012.

He married Marcelle in 1970; they met when she was the wife of the Lear Jet founder and they posed for a publicity photo at Santa Monica Airport, with him in his Batman costume. (They each had two children from their previous marriages, then added a couple of their own.)

When Batman was canceled, “The only thing I thought is that it would be the end of me, and it was for a bit,” he told an audience at Comic-Con in 2014. “But then I realized that what we created in the show … we created this zany, lovable world.

“I look around and I see the adults — I see you grew up with me, and you believe in the adventure. I never believed this would happen, that I would be up here with illustrious people like yourselves. I’m so grateful! I’m the luckiest actor in the world, folks, to have you still hanging around.”

WWE’s Dusty Rhodes Dead at 69Virgil Runnels, known by fans as Dusty Rhodes, went by the nickname “The American Dream.”

By Rebecca Sapakie, Media GeneralPublished: June 11, 2015, 4:04 pm Updated: June 11, 2015, 4:07 pmClick to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) 10K+Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)10K+ 1Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)1Dusty Rhodes photoPhoto of Virgil Runnels, aka Dusty Rhodes, a WWE wrestler who has died (courtesy: WWE)STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — WWE says Virgil Runnels, a former professional wrestler known by his fans as Dusty Rhodes, has died. He was 69.

The company says Runnels died Thursday, but a spokesman declined to say where or how he passed away, saying the family had not authorized the release of that information.

Runnels, who also went by the nickname “The American Dream,” was a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, and held the NWA championship three times. He became famous during the height of wrestling’s popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing in signature yellow polka dot tights with his sidekick “valet” Sapphire.

He also was the father of two other famous WWE wrestlers: Dustin Runnels, better known as Goldust, and Cody Runnels who wrestles under the name Stardust.

Tweet about Runnels’ death from Triple H, of the WWE

Tweet about Runnels’ death from Dana Brooke, of the WWE

Tweet about Runnels’ death from Greg Hamilton, of the WWE

Tweet from the WWE’s Finn Balor on Runnel’s passing

The WWE released this statement:

WWE is deeply saddened that Virgil Runnels, aka “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes — WWE Hall of Famer, three-time NWA Champion and one of the most captivating and charismatic figures in sports entertainment history — passed away today at the age of 69.

Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit. Moreover, Runnels was a dedicated father to WWE Superstars Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and Stardust (Cody Runnels), a caring husband and a creative visionary who helped shape the landscape of WWE long after his in-ring career had ended.

Stephen Furst -- actor and filmmaker known for playing Flounder in 'Animal House' -- has died due to complications from diabetes ... TMZ has learned.Stephen's son Nathan tells us ... his father died at his home in Ventura Country, CA early Friday morning surrounded by loving friends and family. He and his brother Griff said about their dad ... "He was a beloved husband, father and kind friend whose memory will always be a blessing."Furst battled with diabetes for years, and later became a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association.Along with playing Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman in the 1978 comedy classic, he also had starring roles on "Babylon 5" and "St. Elsewhere." He directed a few episodes of 'Babylon 5' as well.He was 63.

George A. Romero, father of the zombie film, is dead at 77By JAKE COYLE Associated Press 14 min ago (0)

NEW YORK — George Romero, whose classic "Night of the Living Dead" and other horror films turned zombie movies into social commentaries and who saw his flesh-devouring undead spawn countless imitators, remakes and homages, has died. He was 77.

Romero died Sunday following a battle with lung cancer, said his family in a statement provided by his manager Chris Roe. Romero's family said he died while listening to the score of "The Quiet Man," one of his favorite films, with his wife, Suzanne Desrocher, and daughter, Tina Romero, by his side.

Romero is credited with reinventing the movie zombie with his directorial debut, the 1968 cult classic, "Night of the Living Dead." The movie set the rules imitators lived by: Zombies move slowly, lust for human flesh and can only be killed when shot in the head. If a zombie bites a human, the person dies and returns as a zombie.

Romero's zombies, however, were always more than mere cannibals; they were metaphors for conformity, racism, mall culture, militarism, class differences and other social ills.

"The zombies, they could be anything," Romero told The Associated Press in 2008. "They could be an avalanche, they could be a hurricane. It's a disaster out there. The stories are about how people fail to respond in the proper way. They fail to address it. They keep trying to stick where they are, instead of recognizing maybe this is too big for us to try to maintain. That's the part of it that I've always enjoyed."

"Night of the Living Dead," made for about $100,000, featured flesh-hungry ghouls trying to feast on humans holed up in a Pennsylvania house. In 1999, the Library of Congress inducted the black-and-white masterpiece into the National Registry of Films.

Many considered the film to be a critique on racism in America. The sole black character survives the zombies, but he is fatally shot by rescuers.

Ten years after "Night of the Living Dead," Romero made "Dawn of the Dead," where human survivors take refuge from the undead in a mall and then turn on each other as the zombies stumble around the shopping complex.

Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the best horror films ever made — and, as an inescapable result, one of the most horrifying. It is gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling. It is also ... brilliantly crafted, funny, droll, and savagely merciless in its satiric view of the American consumer society."

Romero had a sometimes combative relationship with the genre he helped create. He called "The Walking Dead" a "soap opera" and said big-budget films like "World War Z" made modest zombie films impossible. Romero maintained that he wouldn't make horror films he couldn't fill them with political statements.

"People say, 'You're trapped in this genre. You're a horror guy.' I say, 'Wait a minute, I'm able to say exactly what I think," Romero told the AP. "I'm able to talk about, comment about, take snapshots of what's going on at the time. I don't feel trapped. I feel this is my way of being able to express myself."

The third in the Romero's zombie series, 1985's "Day of the Dead," was a critical and commercial failure. There wouldn't be another "Dead" film for two decades.

"Land of the Dead" in 2005 was the most star-packed of the bunch — the cast included Dennis Hooper, John Leguizamo, Asia Argento and Simon Baker. Two years later came "Diary of the Dead," another box-office failure.

There were other movies interspersed with the "Dead" films, including "The Crazies" (1973), "Martin" (1977), "Creepshow" (1982), "Monkey Shines" (1988) and "The Dark Half" (1993). There also was 1981's "Knightriders," Romero's take on the Arthurian legend featuring motorcycling jousters. Some were moderately successful, others box-office flops.

George Andrew Romero was born on Feb. 4, 1940, in New York City. He grew up in the Bronx, and he was a fan of horror comics and movies in the pre-VCR era.

"I grew up at the Loews American in the Bronx," he wrote in an issue of the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine in 2002.

His favorite film was Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "The Tales of Hoffman," based on Jacques Offenbach's opera. It was, he once wrote, "the one movie that made me want to make movies."

He spoke fondly of traveling to Manhattan to rent a 16mm version of the film from a distribution house. When the film was unavailable, Romero said, it was because another "kid" had rented it — Martin Scorsese.Romero graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1960. He learned the movie business working on the sets of movies and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which was shot in Pittsburgh.

The city became Romero's home and many of his films were set in western Pennsylvania. "Dawn of the Dead" was filmed in suburban Monroeville Mall, which has since become a popular destination for his fans.

John Heard found dead at 72By Christine Burroni July 22, 2017 | 9:45am | Updated John Heard found dead at 72John Heard has died at age 72.

The actor was found in a hotel and was pronounced dead on the scene Friday night, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County coroner’s office.

“The Medical Examiner performed and completed an autopsy this morning. The cause of death has not been determined, pending the Medical Examiner conducting further testing, including toxicology which can take anywhere from three to four weeks.”

Catherine O’Hara and John Heard in “Home Alone 2.”20th Century FoxThe release also noted that there was no evidence of foul play.

The “Sopranos” actor, who began his career in the 1970s, had “minor back surgery” earlier this week and was recovering at the hotel in Palo Alto, Calif., TMZ reported.

“I can confirm that our officers responded with the Fire Department to a hotel in our city yesterday on a report of a person in need of medical aid,” a spokesperson for local police told People magazine. “The person was determined to be deceased. While still under investigation, the death is not considered suspicious at this time.”Heard’s famed roles include Macaulay Culkin’s father in the “Home Alone” movies in the 1990s, a love interest in “Beaches” and the rival to Tom Hanks’ in “Big” which both hit the big screen in 1988.

His “Big” co-star, Elizabeth Perkins, tweeted her condolences.

“Rest peacefully, Mr. John Heard,” she wrote. “You were the perfect foil, perfectly sly & a perfect gentleman. Many prayers to his family and children.”

The Emmy-nominated actor also played another dad in the 2004 comedy “White Chicks” alongside Marlon and Shawn Wayans.

“I had the pleasure of working with John Heard in #whitechicks he was a great guy,” Marlon wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for all your contributions to our beloved industry.”